The Best of Us (Sullivan's Crossing #4)(41)

“I knew about him. But... Fling?” Leigh asked.

“That’s the polite term for that thing that makes you put your hands over your ears and yell La-La-La-La when you think of your aunt Helen having sex.” Helen grinned. “I actually remember what sex is.”

“Of course you do. You just never talked about men much.”

“I have. I just didn’t make much of them since they never seemed to be serious. And besides, it irks me when women of a certain age talk about romance like they’re thirty-five. They sound perfectly ridiculous.”

That made Leigh laugh. “Are you sorry you didn’t have children?”

“Well, I had you. Had I found the right man, there might’ve been a larger family, but I had you—I wasn’t deprived. Now tell me everything about Rob...”

Leigh was only too happy to describe him down to the smallest detail. She told Helen all about that first dinner out and everything they talked about. She described his career in the restaurant business, how he knew what she was cooking just by taking a whiff of the air, about his love of all types of restaurants. He had told her about growing up with a younger sister, all about Sid’s achievements in her field of quantum computing. She told Helen about Rob’s wife and her death, about how he taught the boys to clean up after themselves as if they had a mother. “No frat house for him,” she said. “I think he’s tidier than I am.”

“Please do tell me when the imperfections turn up,” Helen said.

“Sure, but don’t hold your breath. I’m nuts about him. I’m trying to take it nice and slow but I guess I have a boyfriend.”

“About damn time, too,” Helen said. “Lucky for you I’m busy away from the house a lot! And I’m going to New York at the end of the month.”

“But do you like it here?” Leigh asked. “Are you bored?”

“God, no! I’ve met the most interesting people. I’ve made the Crossing my second home. Sully is busy at the store all day and I park out on the porch at his house with my laptop and my phone and the best view of the lake. He promised spring brought the elk calves but I haven’t seen them yet. Around the end of the day, when he takes Beau for a walk, I go along so I’m getting plenty of fresh air and exercise. And the hikers! When they come through, I find out all about them—where they’re from, what their hiking goals are, how many long trails they’ve taken on. They’re all types and all ages—from college kids to hikers my age, men and women. The campers are so interesting—sometimes they’ve known Sully for years, sometimes they’re new faces. I’ve played checkers with Frank, gotten recipes from Enid, chatted it up with the rock climbers and search and rescue guys who like to end their training day with a cold beer. I surprise myself. For someone who really likes the best hotels, I love it out there.”

“Are you and Sully becoming good friends?” Leigh asked.

“Everyone loves Sully, don’t they?” Helen said.

“What’s not to love?” Leigh said.

“Happily, though we have nothing whatever in common, we’ve formed a very nice friendship.”

“That makes me so happy,” Leigh said.

“Good,” Helen said. “And the beauty is, I’ve found someone to get me out of the house regularly so you can entertain your new boyfriend.”

Leigh blushed slightly and Helen couldn’t suppress a hearty laugh.







So will the best harmony come out of seeming
discords, the best affection out of differences,
the best life out of struggle, and the best work
will be done when each does his own work.

—James Freeman Clarke



9


AS THE MONTH of May progressed, life seemed almost exciting to Helen. Being at the Crossing so often, she met Sully’s daughter and they hit it off immediately. Maggie, it seemed, was quicker than Leigh on some matters. After they’d spent just an hour together, Maggie said, “It’s nice to put a face to the reason my dad is using so much lotion on his hands.”

“I didn’t ask him to do that,” Helen said. But what she thought was, He is really such a sweetheart.

Helen was meeting the entire halo of friends who frequented the Crossing, whether it was just to visit Sully or to make sure he was getting enough help with his chores. Maggie dropped by a couple of times a week, Cal was around when Maggie wasn’t. Dakota and Sid put in their appearances regularly; Dakota made trash runs to the dump for Sully every week. Anything that required a lot of muscle, Cal or Dakota or Connie Boyle handled. Sierra, Connie’s wife and Cal’s sister, came by about once a week with her little boy, Sam, but Sierra didn’t come to do chores. She was hugely pregnant. She came to the Crossing to run some energy off Sam. And her golden retriever, Molly, ran wild with Beau—they were best friends.

Watching Sully with the little ones brought Helen a special happiness. Elizabeth and Sam were close to the same age and constantly on the move. Sully would put one on each knee and talk to them, read their books to them, help them put their shoes on fifty times a visit. Elizabeth liked to move around the paperbacks on the used-book shelf while Sam liked to take things off the hooks they were hanging on. They both called Sully Pa. Only Elizabeth was his actual grandchild but he said, “They all come from the same family, which makes them all mine, even that bump Sierra is hanging on to.”